


Relic

by HallsofStone2941



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death - Implied, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-07 09:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1893912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HallsofStone2941/pseuds/HallsofStone2941
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all his relics, his mementos of the journey, the one he found on his way back through the Misty Mountains is the worst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relic

Most days, he cannot even bear to look at it.

Of all the relics he has of his journey - Dwarvish armor and weapons, Sting, Beorn's chess piece - this one is the worst. Even the mithril shirt cannot compare with the pain it gives him; the shirt, at least, is Bilbo's.

This is not.

He is not sure what had possessed him to take it, to keep it. Perhaps because the idea of leaving it there, forgotten in the wilderness, had been more painful than the idea of bringing it home.

There are times, in the first few years since his return to the Shire, when he hates it. Shouts at it in anger and grief, all the things he would say to _him_ directed at the inanimate object.

Sometimes he contemplates burning it; shoving it in the fire and letting it turn to ash. But every time he tries - every time he holds it over the flickering heat - his mind fills with images of flames on a cliff side, or in magnificent halls of stone; or on a battlefield, forming massive pyres to honor the slain.

He should probably return it to the Mountain, where it belongs. But it is one final piece, more than the Arkenstone, more than Orcrist, more than the metal crown that rests forever on Thorin's brow, that defines - defined - the Dwarf King. One piece that reminds Bilbo of all in Thorin that had been good - his honor, his strength, his confidence and determination (though some might call it stubbornness). Bilbo is selfish enough to keep this one memento.

But he still cannot look at it. It sits in a chest, and does not see the light of day save for the few occasions he has the courage to look at it. It is his most prized possession - except, perhaps, the ring. He does not trust himself to care for it on the roads, and so leaves it behind when he finally departs for Rivendell.

If anyone ever goes through his things, he is sure they will wonder and shake their heads at Mad Old Baggins who kept useless pieces of hollow oak wood in his smial. Or perhaps little fauntlings will try to use it as a shield in their games. Never will they know that it belonged to a great Dwarf-who-would-be-king, nor that such an insignificant piece of wood had ever christened its bearer.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched An Unexpected Journey today and saw Thorin's shield fall when the eagles picked him up - if PJ has Bilbo pick the shield up on the way back through the Misty Mountains, I am going to be 27369% done with life.


End file.
